5 is a Vibe

Isabelle Rose is now 5! Izzy is going to kindergarten next month! Gasp! I'll bring tissues. But really. This year, Izzy had her first friend birthday party. I'm still recuperating. I try hard to find the right balance and not spoil my kids too much. I want my kids to feel special on their birthdays though and to be honest, last year Isabelle's birthday was lame thanks to unemployment and burnt pizza. 

Friend Party on Monday, July 22:

I brainstormed many celebration ideas. Every time I asked Isabelle what she wanted to do for her party, she changed her answer. I hoped to have an early party for Isabelle while Daisy and Jill were in town, but that didn't happen. I finally decided to rent a bounce house! I found a decent price and liked that the bounce house would provide most of the entertainment. Less work for me. Yeah right. There was still plenty to do. 

It was a princess themed party. Izzy dressed the part and wore a Belle princess dress. The bounce house I ordered was called "The Queen's Palace." It had a slide, ball pit, and jumpy part. Because it was a fairly cheap rental, it meant that we had to pick up and return the rental equipment in American Fork. Huge thanks to Jessica for picking up "The Queen's Palace" and to Andrew for returning it after hours later that evening. It was nice that the kids had entertainment that afternoon while I was frantically prepping for the party. Let me just say that 5-year-olds zest and excitement for life is palpable. They were so enthusiastic and eager to do everything. I even caught a few peeking in the goodie bags early. What a great age!

• Attendees: There was an awesome turnout! At first I was worried there wouldn't be because many take the 24th of July (Pioneer Day) very seriously around here. Rosie, Lydia, and Tessa A were traveling and missed the party. Kennedy, Tessa G, Evelyn, Madison, Elise, Adrianna, Emmie, Quinn, George, Cantrelle, Harrison, Louie, and Freddie came. I'll save you the trouble and count for you. 13 kiddos were there not including my 3 children. Some of Isabelle's friends are from Magic Moments Preschool, others from Mrs. Bee's Preschool, some from dance, the neighborhood, and the ward. Izzy is a friend magnet and gets invited to playdates frequently.

• Activities: Bouncepalace, decorating princess crowns, princess tattoos, put the crown on the princess, and Don't Eat the Princess. We didn't get to the princess puzzle.

George showing off his tats! 

Notice the crown on the wall. haha. Izzy went first and put her crown right where it belonged. She admitted she could see out of the bottom of the mask.

• Food: Chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting, funfetti cupcakes with strawberry frosting and vanilla frosting, popsicles, water bottles, and Capri Sun juice boxes. As delightful as the cupcakes sound, the scorching sun made them messy to eat even for the adults. Future Jenna: remember that Izzy likes the look of pink frosting, but not the flavor of strawberry frosting.
• Decorations: So grateful that Jessica for took over in this department. She found some cute princess decor on Amazon. The classic princess set she found included: a princess tablecloth, backdrop, princess plates, a birthday banner, balloons, hanging swirls, etc. I also got pom poms and a cute birthday sign at Target (not pictured). It turned out so cute! The princess cupcake toppers were a fun addition. 

Presents: Wowza! Izzy's friends know her and are generous. She got Barbies, a makeup kit, a light up diary that locks, a crystal growing unicorn, paint and stencils, a dance playmat, earrings, a Cold Stone gift card, candy, a bubble shooter, a necklace/bracelet, Skye from Paw Patrol, Legos, a mermaid doll, and more! I should have recorded her reactions when she opened her gifts. Seeing her animation when she opened gifts was probably my favorite part of the party. Why can't we be just as elated as kids about everything? Maybe Izzy isn't too spoiled after all.

• Goodie bags: I found darling princess bags at Dollar Tree. I filled each bag with a candy necklace, a Little Mermaid paint set, and princess stickers.

• Unplanned: The party got off to an unexpected start. A child threw-up a few times within the first 10 minutes of the party. I feel like this is normal for kids but it did frazzle me a bit. We got things disinfected and hosed down and the party went on. I'm pretty sure it was heat related. Sadly but understandably, that friend left. Something else we didn't plan on was the party decorations arriving so last minute! The decorations were delivered at 5:10pm and the party started at 5:30pm. Whew, that was nerve-wracking. 

Wishing hard. Much to Isabelle's chagrin, I later learned that Izzy wished that "princesses are real." (Thanks James for telling me.)

Isabelle had a blast and I loved watching her interact with her friends! Isabelle lay awake filled with excitement hours past bedtime. Her new toys were too cool to put down. I think it was a memorable celebration. I couldn't have pulled the princess party off without Jessica and Chris and some other adults there. (There were 7 adults.)

Doctor's Appointment Stats:

Isabelle's 5 year checkup appointment was on Friday, July 26.

Weight: 41.4 pounds (60 percentile)

Height: 43.7 in (75 percentile)

One delighted girl because she got her shots out of the way last year.

BIO

Isabelle is the epitome of a girly girl. She is the life of the party. She's hilarious! She's mature for her age. Isabelle is intelligent. She is reading! Her comprehension is impressive. She remembers and catches so many details while listening to Harry Potter that amaze me. Isabelle is good at playing alone. She asks when quiet time will be because she can play Barbies for hours. Isabelle is an excellent swimmer! More on that in another post. Isabelle is a dance star! Isabelle loves gymnastics. Isabelle is hot and cold about soccer. Currently, she wants to add that to her already overflowing schedule. Isabelle is spicy. "If looks could kill..." Isabelle is a singer! Isabelle likes to come out of bed regularly to see me and Andrew. She often scrambles to think of an excuse for being out of bed... "I need another hug.." Izzy keeps up with James on her scooter or bike. She dreads long car rides, especially driving on the freeway. The freeway is "too loud." Isabelle wants to start playing the violin. She can hardly wait to start lessons with Jessica. Isabelle is an excellent helper in the kitchen and enjoys baking cookies with me. Isabelle brightens every room just being around.

Actual Birthday on Tuesday, July 23

Isabelle is a girl after my own heart. She had very specific food requests for her special day and I was more than happy to oblige. 

• Breakfast: Honey Oh Cereal (referred to as Honey Bee cereal around here). Ding ding ding! My goal of making breakfast is still going strong, so I was cheerful when this was her simple request. 
• Dinner: Mashed potatoes and gravy, roast, rolls, and strawberries 
• Dessert: Strawberry ice cream (with the Coldstone giftcard)

I suggested several ideas for what we could do on Isabelle's birthday. The library got an eye roll and an exasperated, "I hate the library." (She always says that before we go there and then ends up loving it.) Swimming won Izzy's vote.

• Rec Center: Salt Lake County rec centers are now giving children ages 5-18 free memberships/passes. How awesome! I've been anxiously awaiting Izzy's birthday, so she could get her free pass. We went bright and early on the 23rd to get the kids passes, so they could get into the pool for free later that day. Jess and George joined us for swimming. Izzy chose the Herriman rec center pool because it has a diving board. She's recently become a fan. I checked the wall for an age limit and it didn't say one. We later learned that there was a sign next to the diving board saying children must be 6 years old. Oops... Izzy went off the regular sized diving board a handful of times. To my surprise, she followed James off the HIGH dive without batting an eye! Say what! What a brave girl.

New goggles

• Gymnastics: Izzy has gymnastics on Tuesday afternoons so she got to go to gymnastics on her birthday! She wore a happy birthday headband. Her class sang to her and she adored the attention. 

• Presents: As if Izzy didn't get enough! She got a mermaid tail blanket, swim goggles, a stationary kit and gel pens, Ken Barbie and Wish dress-up, shoes and earrings, and a coloring book from family. Andrew and I leaned into the "not going to spoil our kids role" and got her a bike. We did purchase the bike on sale on Amazon Prime Day. Isabelle's old bike was several sizes too small. It was basically a need. Isabelle loves her new ride! I'm proud to report that we didn't have to put on training wheels. I think a big part of that is the result of her using a stride/balance bike in the past.

It's bittersweet to watch humans grow up. I sure love my sassy 5-year-old.  The next birthday in our family is Penelope's. Send chocolate. Time, please slow down. Next thing I know, I'll blink and Penny will be 5 just like Izzy.

Outer Space Bathroom

My sisters are interior design masters. I'm lucky because they tell me ideas and help me set them in motion. Last time Jill was in town, she helped retile our fireplace. Jessica chose a new light fixture for our family room. This summer, both of my sisters were here together and they suggested renovating my half bathroom.

I don't know who is most animated about our updated bathroom me or the kids. The kids checked in on the bathroom progress constantly. If you need cheerleaders, let me know.  They're available for hire. To say they are enthusiastic about the changes is an understatement. The children exclaimed that the bathroom paint color looks like outer space. It's moody and I'm obsessed. The pictures don't do it justice.

The half bathroom is the smallest room in our house which made for some tight corridors throughout the project. This bathroom is the main one guests use, so lots of people see it. Instant payoff. Piano students use it regularly. Our half bathroom certainly needed a face lift and the transformation is better than I envisioned. In my sister's words: "it's the cutest bathroom I've ever seen."

Let's show you some before pictures.

You might be wondering why there was a massive towel rack. Beats me. This half bathroom doesn't have a shower. Getting rid of that was one of my first priorities.

Removing the mirror was taxing, but go Andrew! He did it with only a slight break. That thing had layers of glue. Finding a mirror replacement was tricky, but we did it. The first mirror I ordered was too small. Hanging the new mirror took lots of creativity. We ended up having to create a tool that we called a dinglehopper to maneuver behind the mirror to be able to attach it to the hooks. Said dinglehopper is made of 3 cabob sticks taped together with a paperclip attached to the end. Whew. What a process.

During this process, I learned a new word, "tchotchke." My sisters casually used the term and I had never heard it. According to Google it means: "a small object that is decorative rather than strictly functional, a trinket." How creative to go with a game decor theme! I did not come up with this. Games are played on the regular around here. Jill ordered darling dominoes. That game is meaningful because my parents love it! They taught it to our kids in Brazil. I have many fond memories playing that game with them. The other game on display is Clue which is also significant. Andrew and I played a game of Clue (my roommate Sarah played too) and we made a bet. Whoever lost had to take Andrew out on a date. Let's just say I lost and took Andrew out. The rest is history. In case you're wondering, we don't play Clue together often. Andrew is the reigning champion and playing him can get discouraging quick.

I didn't realize how many details go into such a small space. Everything came together exquisitely. I'm so appreciative to my sisters who spent endless time, energy, and effort on this project. Jessica was painting while super pregnant and ill. Things were a little precarious at times... And at one point we were using flashlights to paint since we had taken out the old light fixture but didn't want to install the new fixture until we had painted around that area. In the photo below, I'm leaning standing on the counter trying not to fall into the toilet.

Cost:

        I didn't want to spend a ton on this project. My budget was about $500. We have some more pressing house fixes we need to take care of. I would love to someday replace the countertops or vanity, but after painting the cupboard blue, I like it so much more! We tried a peel and stick counter that looks like marble to cover. Unfortunately it didn't workout, but it was worth a shot since the peel on only cost $10. 

Peel and stick marble counter

Details:

        Paint: Benjamin Moore VAN DEUSEN BLUE-- FREE so generous of Jess and Chris to let us use their extra paint. Both of my sisters have this color in their homes. Jessica's master bedroom is painted Van Deusen blue and Jill's dining room is also this shade. Though our styles and houses are different, the blue looks gorgeous in each of our spaces.

        Mirror: Amazon $96.51

        Light fixture: Amazon $78.39

        Light bulbs: Home Depot $10.98

        Floating shelves: Amazon $31.84

        Paint for shelves: Lowe's $6.41 color Mint Chip

        New faucet: Amazon $27.99

        Marble contact paper for counter: Amazon $9.99

        Knobs for cabinet: Home Depot under $10

        Towel holder: Amazon $8.57

        Toilet paper holder: Amazon $9.00

       

        Shadow box frames: Michaels $39.99 each x 4 (they were on sale for buy one get one half off)

        Dominoes: Bando.com $35.95

        

        Rug: World Market $20

        Rug gripper pad: Amazon $8

        Soap dispenser: Amazon $10

        Babys breath artificial flowers: Amazon $10

        Clue board game: Amazon $17.99. Used a $2 copy from DI for practice

        Game pieces print: Redbubble $3.49

        Grand total: About $517.11 (I stayed under budget because Jill gifted me a few of the items as payment for watching Daisy which was so generous.) 

        

While my sisters were around, we watched all the episodes of Chip and Joanna Gaines renovating Hotel 1928. Now I have the itch. A coat of paint and some other minor things drastically changed the aesthetic and feel of the bathroom. Painting the island in our kitchen blue is now on my list. So is re-doing the master bathroom and kids bathroom. (I already know what color!) For now, I ordered a new faucet for the kitchen which will be a quick upgrade and make a world of difference since now Andrew can do plumbing apparently. A man of many trades. I'm not usually keen on hanging out in bathrooms, but I may have to start getting ready in our 1/2 bath now...

I adore these knobs

Brazil Part 3

If you've made it through all of my Brazil posts, kudos to you! This is the final one, so buckle up! I'll cover shopping, Penny growing up, home, and mission life.

Shopping

• Malls: are a big deal in Brazil! There are many malls and they're huge with several floors. I'm not sure what the big draw is, but they are air conditioned which provides a good respite from the heat! Many of the malls have movie theaters inside and we even saw a gym in one! Malls have several kid-friendly attractions. Some allow you to pay and let your kids play while you shop. You can rent little jeeps for your kids to drive through the mall and better yet, you can even rent one that allows you to control where your child drives/goes. My kids are old enough, we let them take the reigns. 

I was most interested in going to the Melissa shoe store and Farm. Melissa shoes cost a fraction of the price in Brazil that they cost in in the US. I got 2 pairs of Melissa shoes: hot pink sandals and beige sandals. They're extremely comfortable! Izzy's birthday is soon and my mom got her daisy sandals for her special day. There are several Melissa shoe stores and we went to a few because each has different styles. My mom discovered a store called "Farm" that sells amazing dresses. The dresses sold at Farm are sold at Anthropologie in the United States which is out of my budget. One of the employees at Farm found the perfect dress for me and it was purple (my favorite)! I couldn't pass it up. The dress sells for $200 at Anthropologie. I got the dress for less than half of that! ($75)

Shoes, dress, and earrings from Brazil

• Craft Fair Earrings: on Saturday mornings, there is a local craft fair. My mom told me she thought I would love the earrings there and she was right! Earrings are the accessory I wear most. We found some keepers and they were dirt cheap. I may or may not have purchased several pairs for a favorite things gift exchange later this year... I also got some earrings to bring home for a couple of friends. My mom gave Izzy a pair of dangly earrings to go along with her new shoes for her birthday. I also got a perfect, pink crocheted doily. 

• Kid Souvenirs: someday I'm hopeful that my kids will want something besides stuffies as souvenirs. This is my current phase of life though! At Iguazu Falls, the kids picked out birds that reminded them of the bird park we went to. They snuggled with and slept with these every night. At the zoo, the kids picked out monkeys and named them Goldie and Roxa (pronounced "Hosha" which means purple in Portuguese). Penny also got a bird.

Growing Up: Penelope changed right before my parent's eyes! Before the trip, she could sit up, but never would. She would arch her back and really disliked it. While in Brazil, Penny started sitting like a champ. She also decided it would be a good time to grow 2 teeth. Yes, 2! She slept horribly the entire trip and it answered a lot of questions when we saw the teeth pop through. Penelope went with the flow and took her naps on-the-go sometimes. She did start to have loud opinions about her carseat on car rides there which was a new development...

Home: how come I felt like I was home even though I was over 5,000 miles from my said home? My parent's home feels the same because they're in it. They went overboard to make everything nice for us. Here are some of the things they did that stand out:

• Daily wrapped presents: yes, you read that correctly. My kids got to open a little gift each morning when they woke up. They asked the instant their eyes opened to reveal their gift. Even though my parent's have been gone for 2 years, my mom is not out of touch with what my kids like. Their daily gifts included lots of stickers, coloring books, action figures, dolls, etc. and the kids were endlessly entertained.

• Workout equipment: my parent's have a teeny workout room. I got to workout in the mornings and it felt so good. I often worked out with my mom on the machine next to me and we talked a mile a minute. It reminded me of the old days. In addition to workout machines, we also walked a ton! I got over 10,000 steps everyday the first week I think.
• Home cooked meals: I don't know what my mom's secret ingredient is, but my food never tastes as good as hers. Even with different ingredients that she can't get in Brazil her spaghetti was more flavorful than mine! I couldn't resist her cookies either. She tried a recipe I like-- Mississippi pot roast and it was so tender and moist. She also made a yummy chocolate cake, tacos, and other things I'm failing to mention. I felt so taken care of! Someone was cooking for me for once! I was in no rush to get back to cooking on the daily for little tummies that are always grumbling. My mom also bought a variety of Snickers candy bars and we had a taste test to see which flavor was best. Let me just say that nobody picked passion fruit...

• Crafts: my mom started pressing flowers for my kids right after we booked our flights to Brazil. She had flowers pressed for months and pulled them out to do a craft with my kids! How thoughtful! My mom also made homemade playdough that the kids loved! She got supplies for bracelets too which kept the kids busy and happy.

• Apple chips: my dad brought his dehydrator to Brazil and still snacks on apple chips like they're chocolate. My kids had forgotten my dad made apple chips which broke my heart. He used to give the kids a bag full of them to enjoy on our drive home. My kids got to make apple chips with Papa! This brought me pure joy! Now maybe Papa can be remembered for that again!

• Games: in the evenings, we played games with the kids before bed. My parent's taught them how to play a classic favorite of theirs-- Dominoes! 

• Cooking show MasterChef: Andrew and I got hooked on this show! We watched episodes each night with my parent's! It's such a fun competition. When we got home, we sadly learned that we can't access the episodes in the US. Andrew and I have instead been watching the show "Chopped" to get our cooking fix in.
• Balcony: my parent's have some good views from their apartment. Most nights we ended up eating popsicles taking in the perspective. My dad even moved his exercise bike and worked out on the balcony while we were there so Penny could sleep in peace.

Mission Life: I read my mom's diligent weekly emails and stay in touch with my parent's regularly, but seeing how much my parent's do first-hand was mind-boggling. When they're done with this gig, they might need to hibernate and take the longest nap known to man. They definitely have the energy for it though and their 150 missionaries are lucky. My parent's are assigned to speak in many stake conferences throughout the year and while we were there, we got to listen to them speak. They thought ahead and had missionaries sit by us and translate the meeting which was much appreciated! Though, Andrew diligently did Duo Lingo for 331 days before our trip! What a guy! If you know my mom, you know of her love for music. She opted for playing a piano duet with me to replace her talk. She did talk briefly and introduced the song, "The Spirit of God" and testified. How amazing that my mom can speak the language! She's studied so hard. We played the duet on a keyboard at the stake center and it wasn't the best instrument to say the least but I appreciated the experience. Soon enough we'll be whipping out "Sound of Music Duets" again for fun.

My dad interviewed missionaries while we were there. This is time consuming and mentally taxing. Imagine having 150 kids! They had one of their most challenging weeks while we were there and some of the stuff you just can't make up. My mom deals with missionary health concerns. She gets pictures of all sorts of gross body parts, warts, and hears many details that are TMI but she handles it all beautifully. 

My parent's do a lot of traveling because their mission spans a huge area! It's bigger than the state of UT. n fact, a handful of missionaries are in another time zone. This means that my parent's do mission prayer twice each morning. Once at 6:45am and again at 7:45am. James cherished morning prayer and was up plenty early for it. My parent's also do zoom family home evening and I got to answer some questions during that. My mom recorded my kids singing "Book of Mormon Stories" and played that for the missionaries as well. You can't get much cuter than that. In case you're wondering, my parent's haven't changed much. My dad still rises at 3:45am each morning (Sometimes 4) and works out. My mom still makes cookies around the clock for the missionaries and weas her wrinkle patch each night. (Shhh that's a secret.)

We all signed the mission quilt! Huge shoutout to Andrew who worked remotely the second week of our trip. He stayed at the house while my mom and I took the kids on adventures. Andrew only had to take 4 days off of work for this trip thanks to the holiday-- Memorial Day.

We drove by the new temple sight in Ribeirão Preto! It's in a nice area. A couple of weeks after we left, my parent's got to go to the groundbreaking for the new temple. It won't be completed before my parent's finish.

Leaving was sad. I cried which doesn't happen often. The end of my parent's mission finally seems within reach now though. They will be home in 1 year! We changed our flight home. Originally we planned on breaking the trip up again and staying a night in LA with Jess and Chris. I tried to get the airline to change my flight for free and thought I had the perfect excuse... they changed our flight time! We all had a good chuckle when the airline employee told me "your flight time wasn't changed significantly-- it was only changed by 2 minutes ma'am.." haha oops. The employee did work with me and we managed to change our flight without having to pay excessive amounts of money. It was well worth it not to have to get a rental car, unpack for the night, etc. After 28.5 hours of travel (not exaggerating), we finally made it back to UT! (Here are the logistics if you're wondering: a 4 hour car ride to Sao Paulo, an 11 hour flight, customs, a few hour layover in CA, an hour and a half flight from LAX to SLC briefly delayed, and a drive home). That's a long time to travel, but we did it and boy am I glad we did.

The beginning of our journey right when we saw my parents. Can you tell how tired we are?

The end of our journey as we parted and took the shuttle to the airport right before my tears started.

I don't know that my family will visit Brazil again. James seems determined to. Even after such an extensive time traveling, he wanted to turn back around and fly back to Brazil. He would love to be called to serve his mission in Brazil. What an unforgettable and remarkable trip we had. I am so thankful that we got to have this once-in-a-lifetime experience. Thank you mom and dad for everything! I can't believe we actually went to Brazil.